A British judge on Tuesday sentenced a former policeman to prison, with a minimum sentence of 30 years, for dozens of rapes and sexual assaults, in the latest shocking case to embarrass London’s Metropolitan Police force.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb handed David Carrick 36 life sentences for a “monstrous” string of 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes, against 12 women, to a man who represents a “grave danger to women” who will “last forever”.
David Carrick, a long-serving officer of London’s Metropolitan Police, has admitted 71 sexual offences, including 48 rapes, against 12 women.
Since sentencing Carrick, the judge, Bobbie Cheema-Grubb, said she took “great advantage” from the woman who was “raped and sexually assaulted.”
Police ‘unaffected’
He said he believed he was “untouchable” and that his position as a police officer gave him “tremendous power to coerce and control.”
The court heard on Monday that his offenses earned him a life sentence with a minimum term.
Carrick used his status as a police officer to first reassure the woman and start a relationship, before subjecting him to what the prosecutor called “a catalog of violent and brutal sexual offenses”.
“He often relies on charm to deceive and mislead his victims in the first place, and then uses his power and control, partly because of what he does for a living, to prevent them from leaving or considering reporting,” prosecutor Tom said. Little told the court on Friday.
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Carrick often humiliated women, including locking them naked in a small closet, urinating on them and whipping them.
In statements read out by prosecutors, the victims said they felt they had been “trapped” and “no longer trusted the police”.
During the trial, it emerged that the police had records of various complaints and allegations involving Carrick’s behavior towards women, but he had never faced a disciplinary tribunal.
– ‘It has to be better’ –
He was fired from the police force just last month after pleading guilty in court.
Home Affairs Minister Suella Braverman said on Monday that “it is clear that policing needs to do better”.
He added that he asked the police force to strengthen vetting, and that “standards must rise so that such cases … become a thing of the past”.
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The Met, Britain’s biggest force, has apologized for failing to act on previous allegations against Carrick, who served in an armed unit protecting MPs and foreign diplomats.
Armed Forces Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray said before the sentencing that “we failed to identify people in our ranks … who committed the worst offences”.
“They don’t have to be police officers,” he added.
The force admitted last month that an average of two to three officers face criminal charges in court each week.
The Met has responded to the Carrick case by setting up investigative teams to target staff suspected of domestic abuse or sexual offences.
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It reviews all current officers and staff facing such allegations that did not result in a misdemeanor charge or hearing.
Anger and mistrust of the police began with the killing of Londoner Sarah Everard during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2021 by off-duty police officer Wayne Couzens, who was raped and strangled.
Carrick served in the same VIP protection unit as Couzens, who has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.